2026-04-18 7 min read
If you've ever walked into your garage on a Tuesday morning and heard nothing but a grinding motor while your door sits frozen at floor level, there's a good chance a spring has failed. It's one of the most common calls we get at Garage Door Company Arcadia — and it almost always catches homeowners off guard. Here's what you need to know before it happens to you.
Your garage door weighs anywhere from 130 to over 300 pounds depending on size and material. Garage door springs are what make that weight manageable — they store mechanical energy as the door closes and release it to help lift the door when you open it. Without functioning springs, your opener motor is essentially trying to lift a small car by itself.
There are two main types used in residential homes:
- Torsion springs — mounted horizontally on a metal shaft above the door opening. These are the standard on most modern Arcadia homes, especially the larger custom-built estates in Upper Rancho and Highland Oaks. - Extension springs — mounted on both sides of the door along the horizontal tracks. These are more common on older, smaller single-car garages, particularly in neighborhoods like Santa Anita Village where post-war ranch-style homes are still common.
Most springs don't fail without warning. Here's what to watch for:
If you disconnect your opener and try to lift the door manually, a properly balanced door should glide up with minimal effort and stay put when you let go halfway. Check our FAQ page for a quick balance test you can do yourself. If the door feels like dead weight or drops when you release it, the springs are losing tension.
When springs weaken, your opener motor compensates by working harder. If you notice the motor running longer than usual, hesitating, or stopping mid-cycle, that's a signal — and if you ignore it long enough, you'll be replacing both springs *and* your opener. Learn more about motor-related issues and what they mean.
For torsion springs, a healthy coil's loops touch each other. If you see a visible gap — usually an inch or more — somewhere along the spring, that section has already snapped. Stop using the door immediately.
Sometimes the first sign is a sudden sound that homeowners often describe as a gunshot or a car backfire coming from the garage. That's a broken torsion spring releasing its stored energy all at once. If you hear this, don't attempt to operate the door.
Standard torsion springs are rated for around 10,000 cycles — one cycle being one open-and-close. At four uses per day, that works out to roughly seven years. But Arcadia households that use the garage as the primary entry point (common in the denser parts of south Arcadia near the 210 freeway) can burn through a spring in four years or less.
Arcadia's climate plays a role too. While the city doesn't get the coastal salt air that causes rapid corrosion in places like Long Beach, the San Gabriel Valley's summer heat — with August highs regularly hitting the upper 80s — combined with Santa Ana wind events that bring rapid temperature swings, can cause metal fatigue over time. Dry conditions in the San Gabriel Valley also mean springs are less prone to rust than in more humid regions, but they still need lubrication.
Pro tip: Ask about high-cycle springs when you schedule a replacement. Upgrading to springs rated for 25,000 cycles typically costs only $50–$100 more but can more than double the lifespan of the repair.
Here's an honest breakdown:
- Torsion springs: $150–$350 per spring, including parts and labor - Extension springs: $100–$200 per spring - Replacing both springs (recommended): Even if only one breaks, replace both. Both springs were installed at the same time and have logged the same number of cycles — when one goes, the other is typically close behind. Replacing them together saves on a second service call and keeps the door balanced.
Scheduling a repair when you notice early warning signs will always cost less than an emergency call. Emergency spring replacement can run significantly higher than a routine scheduled repair.
If your door is older and you're also seeing worn cables, damaged rollers, or an aging opener, it may be worth exploring whether repair or full replacement makes more financial sense for your situation.
This part is straightforward: garage door springs operate under extreme tension. A torsion spring stores enough energy that improper release can cause serious injury or destroy the door system entirely. Professional technicians use specialized winding bars and follow precise procedures for a reason. The cost of professional service is not worth skipping here.
Schedule a spring inspection if your door is seven or more years old and you've never had the springs replaced — especially true in Arcadia's older neighborhoods where doors from the 1990s and early 2000s are still common.
Q: Can I still use my garage door if one spring is broken? A: Technically the opener may still move the door slightly, but you shouldn't use it. Running your opener with a broken spring puts extreme strain on the motor, cables, and rollers. It can cause additional damage that turns a $250 spring repair into a much larger bill.
Q: Should I replace both springs even if only one broke? A: Yes. Both springs were installed at the same time and have completed the same number of cycles. When one breaks, the other is statistically near the end of its life. Replacing both at once saves on labor and prevents an unbalanced door.
Q: How do I know if I have torsion or extension springs? A: Torsion springs are the large coiled spring(s) mounted horizontally above your garage door opening, centered on a metal shaft. Extension springs run along the horizontal tracks on either side of the door and look like stretched coils. If you're unsure, check our services page or give us a call — it's easy to identify over the phone.